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NeoArc Studio

Shape Navigation Links

Turn any diagram shape or group into a clickable navigation link. Link shapes to pages, other diagrams, ERD views, graph views, search views, ADRs, or external URLs. Navigation links are tracked in the intent graph with full impact analysis.

Shape navigation links let you turn any shape or group in a diagram into a clickable link. When a viewer clicks the shape, they navigate to the linked target - whether that is another page, a different diagram, an ERD view, or an external URL. This turns static architecture diagrams into interactive navigation hubs.

Supported Link Targets

Each shape can link to one of eight target types. The link type determines what happens when a viewer clicks the shape in the published site.

Home
Navigate to the site home page.
Page
Navigate to any content page in the workspace.
External URL
Open an external URL in a new browser tab.
Diagram
Navigate to another diagram in the workspace.
ERD View
Navigate to an entity-relationship diagram view.
Graph View
Navigate to a graph view derived from the data model.
Search View
Navigate to a search index view.
ADR
Navigate to an architecture decision record.

Configuring Links

In infographic and presentation mode, the layers panel shows a link icon next to each shape and group. Clicking the icon opens a configuration overlay where you select the link type and target.

Visual Indicators

Shapes with navigation links display a subtle anchor badge at the bottom-left corner. This badge appears in both the editor and the published viewer. In the layers panel, the link icon changes to a branded colour when a link is active.

Diagram-to-Diagram Navigation

One of the most useful patterns is linking shapes to other diagrams. This creates a drill-down experience where a high-level architecture overview links to detailed diagrams for each subsystem. Viewers can click a service box to see its internal architecture, or click a database icon to open the ERD view.

Intent Graph Integration

Every navigation link (except external URLs and home links) creates a navigates-to edge in the architecture intent graph. This edge connects the source diagram to the target document. The intent graph then provides:

Impact Analysis
When you attempt to delete, rename, or move a linked target, the impact sheet warns you that navigation links will break.
Task Board Cards
Breaking changes automatically generate task board cards so the team can track and resolve broken navigation links.
Architecture Explorer
The explorer visualises navigates-to relationships alongside all other intent graph edges, giving a complete picture of document connectivity.

View Mode Annotations

ERD views, graph views, and search views are read-only projections of the data model. Shapes in these views cannot be linked directly because they are generated from the model. However, you can add annotation shapes using the Annotate toolbar in the top menu.

Text Annotation
Add a text label to the view. Double-click to edit the text, or press Delete to remove it.
Off-Page Connector
Add an off-page connector shape that acts as a navigation anchor. Configure it with a link to any supported target.

Annotation shapes in views behave like regular shapes for editing purposes - you can rename them, reposition them, and delete them - even though the rest of the view is read-only.